Run-down house in Margaret River renovated into a family home

Making the move from Perth to the Margaret River region, Rachel and Craig Woods transformed a run-down house into a welcoming family home.

Photographer: Mark Roper

Stylist: Jo Carmichael

Rachel Woods was first captivated by the natural beauty of the Margaret River region when she was 19 years old and working in a lodge in Gracetown for a year. After work, she’d head to the beach to surf and explore the local bushland on weekends. But most of all, Rachel fell in love with the small country community and, before reluctantly returning to Perth, she vowed she’d return one day. “It just felt like home,” she recalls.

Thirteen years later, after studying photography, Rachel’s wish came true; only this time she returned with a young family in tow, following a work opportunity for her husband Craig, a commercial electrical contractor. For years, Craig, Rachel and their children — Jack, 16, Ella, 15, and 10-year-old Aniah — had visited the region, all the while dreaming of life in the south.

Photographer: Mark Roper

Stylist: Jo Carmichael

When the opportunity came in 2012, they searched for a house to accommodate not only their family but their ridgeback–cross dog Issey, and they eventually settled on a 20-year-old house in coastal Dunsborough, north of the Margaret River, that was quite dated.

“Peeking through the overhanging trees and vines as we drove up the driveway for the first time, it reminded me of a house in a storybook, and we loved the light that poured through the windows,” Rachel says, not daunted by the dark interior. “As terrible as it looked, I knew it was ours — there was cosiness among its quirks and imperfections.”

Despite still living 250 kilometres away in Perth, Craig and Rachel spent 10 weekends travelling down to work on the house before moving in; transforming dark jarrah and varnished pine with white paint and covering everything from the ceiling to doors and frames in the same cool shade.

Photographer: Mark Roper

Stylist: Jo Carmichael

Stripping back the wallpaper revealed damaged plaster underneath, so the couple decided to clad the walls in timber. The house originally had two kitchens, so they removed one and updated the other with freestanding recycled timber cabinetry from Perth that Craig and Rachel installed.

Photographer: Mark Roper

Stylist: Jo Carmichael

Craig added a deck and pergola that allows extra room for entertaining. “There’s nothing more satisfying than waking up with opened doors leading from the bedroom to the outside deck and hearing the coastal rain as it passes over,” he says.

Rachel has loved interior decorating since she was a child. “I was forever changing my room around and pilfering things from other parts of our house,” she says with a laugh. “I like little collections and arrangements of things.” Hanimex cameras that belonged to her mother sit beside her father’s lenses in vintage shelving Rachel picked up on the roadside.

“I love things with stories; my most cherished pieces have either been handed down, handmade or rescued from the roadside and op shops; pieces that make me wonder whose hands have held them before mine,” Rachel says.

Photographer: Mark Roper

Stylist: Jo Carmichael

Soon after moving to Dunsborough, Rachel set about looking for a studio space for her photography work and discovered the general store for lease in the main street. “I thought it was too public and the lighting was terrible, but then Craig said, ‘Well, we could just open the general store.’

“We thought, ‘Why not? Let’s give it a go!’” Craig and Rachel refurbished the building and opened Merchant & Maker General Store in 2015. Even with a population of fewer than 5000 in Dunsborough in winter, a steady stream of customers frequent the store. “It’s nice to be part of the community and get to know people’s stories,” Rachel says.

The Woods’ house is a short drive from Meelup Beach, where the family spends time paddleboarding. “Moving south, away from familiarity and habit has made us become more present with each other,” she says. “We’ve built quite a life for ourselves down here and in some ways it feels like I’ve picked up where I left off when I was 19. This place and I had some unfinished business. It’s good to be home.”

Photographer: Mark Roper

Stylist: Jo Carmichael

THE HOUSE AT A GLANCE

1. Rachel studied photography and runs a portait, landscape and still-life photography business under the name Peach Woods. Some of her works are framed (like the one below) and hung throughout the house.

Photographer: Mark Roper

Stylist: Jo Carmichael

2. New and old pieces from salvage yards, markets and op shops are mixed throughout the house. For a day out, Rachel heads to The Flying Wardrobe, a second-hand wares store in nearby Witchcliffe. (08) 9757 6647.

3. Many of the Woods’ treasures are sourced through suppliers to their Merchant & Maker store in Dunsborough. Two of their favourites are the vintage botanical print in the kitchen by Erstwhile and Kip & Co bedding. For ceramics, try Liquorice Moon Studios on Etsy.

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